APNU tables motion to allow protest outside Parliament

TIMES INT'L

A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) parliamentarian Desmond Trotman has tabled a motion in Parliament for the House to declare that the right of citizens to assemble and demonstrate peacefully outside Parliament should not be hindered.

The motion will come up on May 7. Protests have been discouraged outside Parliament over the years, with police throwing up barricades and frequently clashing with demonstrators. The Parliament office on Monday served notice that the motion was received on April 19.

The motion noted that from the early beginnings of the National Assembly there have been public gatherings outside Parliament Building, including demonstrations and protests. The motion also stated that Article 147 of the Constitution enshrines the right of freedom of assembly and peaceful demonstration.

The motion’s resolve clause urged that the “National Assembly declares that the right of citizens to assemble and to demonstrate peacefully should not be hindered by the Guyana Police Force or any other agency or institution of state”. “The Guyana Police Force should relocate its barricades so as to allow freedom of assembly within a closer proximity of the National Assembly, Public Buildings.” The motion further urges that Parliament Office makes arrangements for the broadcast of parliamentary sittings in the environs of the National Assembly.

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